Vice President Joe Biden claims he once looked Russian President Vladimir Putin right in the face and called him soulless. That incredible tale comes via a sprawling profile of the vice president in the latest edition of The New Yorker.
To illustrate his emphasis on personality as a factor in foreign affairs, Biden recalled visiting Putin at the Kremlin in 2011: "I had an interpreter, and when he was showing me his office I said, 'It's amazing what capitalism will do, won't it? A magnificent office!' And he laughed. As I turned, I was this close to him." Biden held his hand a few inches from his nose. "I said, 'Mr. Prime Minister, I'm looking into your eyes, and I don't think you have a soul.'" [The New Yorker]
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